Personal Jurisdiction: Forum, Not Plaintiff

A long-running jurisdictional dispute, on remand from the Texas Supreme Court after that court’s resolution of a procedural issue, produced a thorough analysis of personal jurisdiction in Chen v. Razberi Technologies, Inc. Among other practical points, the opinion reminds that “[w]hile it is often relevant to the inquiry, the focus is on the relationship between the defendant, the forum, and the litigation, not the plaintiff, the forum, and the litigation.” (citation omitted, emphasis added).

Here, “The connection between the Modrys’ causes of action and Texas is not weak because, like the other investors, they claim to have suffered harm in Texas when they entered into the Stock Purchase Agreement in Texas with a Texas-based company as a result of its director’s and majority shareholder’s misrepresentations and omissions.” No. 05-19-01551-CV (Nov. 8, 2022).